London’s Victoria’s Park was packed on the final day of the city festival All Points East. Having had huge headliners like Stormzy and Jungle earlier this month, Californian sister trio, Haim took to the stage to perform their empowering music to a massive London crowd. The festival lined up perfectly with their debut album’s tenth anniversary, meaning it was the perfect way to celebrate their incredible record Days Are Gone. All Points East treat the bands dedicated fans with an impressive line up of incredibly talented musician to get the fans warmed up for the American girl group’s performance.
The first act we were able to catch was Unflirt, a 22-year-old pop artist with a delicate sound. Despite being one of the days first acts she pulled in a large crowd while singing a selection of her songs including “Someday”, “Crush” and “Stains”. Having only began her career during lockdown the singer-songwriter is just getting started, we look forward to following her journey.
After this, we caught the incredible Belgian-Egyptian singer-songwriter Tamino, who had the entire audience mesmerised by his talent. With hints of his Middle Eastern heritage within his songs, his music is purely ethereal and takes you on a journe. His set included many of his fan favourites including “The Flame”, “Indigo Night” and of course “Habibi”.
American indie-rock solo project Snail Mail was next up on the East Stage alongside her two piece band. Kicking her set off with fan favourite “Valentine” the audience was hooked instantly. Later in her set she went on to perform two of her best performing tracks to date “Heat Wave” and “Pristine”.
Having previously caught Joesef supporting Arlo Parks in 2021, it was amazing to see him performing to such a large crowd of the festivals West Stage. He was euphoric as he performed, captivating the audience with his impressive vocals as he performed tracks like “Joe” and “It’s Been A Little Heavy Lately”.
Next up was none other than the magnificent Griff, who we were lucky enough to cover at her sold out London show in 2022. She took to the stage in a stunning sparkling outfit and danced her way across the stage, all while delivering an incredibly powerful vocal performance. Fan screamed back the lyrics to many of the singers well loved songs including “Walk”, “Vertigo” and of course “Black Hole”.
Australian indie electro-pop band Confidence Man was up next and wow they were definitely worth the wait. The band’s performance is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before and it is entirely captivating watching them perform immaculate synchronised choreography as they sing is impressive. Opening the set with “Toy Boy” as they dance on the stage in their oversized suits, sending their fans crazy. The set also included performances of “Feels Like a Different Thing”, “On & On (Again)” and of course “Holiday”.
Irish singer-songwriter Nell Mescal is a rising star and it was incredible to finally have the opportunity to catch her live. Nell performed a very small intimate set at last years All Points East and there was a huge increase of fans in the crowd this year, and it was so incredibly deserved. She treated fans to performances of “Cutting Ties”, her newest single “Teeth” and the song that helped skyrocket Nell into the spotlight “Homesick”
Girl In Red was the final act to take to the East Stage prior to the headliners and she was certainly was worth the wait. The Norwegian singer rocked out throughout the entire set, taking multiple opportunities to get close to her dedicated fans She performed many of her much loved songs including “girls”, “bad idea!” and of course “i wanna be your girlfriend”, which featured the singer joining a mosh pit in the crowd.
It was finally time for Canadian sister trio HAIM, and they kicked off with “Now I’m in It”, which understandably sent the crowd crazy. As the song came to a close, Alana Haim emotionally told the crowd,
“London and the UK was the first place to ever embrace us so we actually call this home. The fact that all of you are here tonight is really crazy, because 10 years ago we were not playing to this many people and we are really grateful to be here. We want to thank every single one of you because this is why we do this. We want to bring happiness and to play music and this has blown our minds.”
The sisters celebrated 10 years of their debut album, Days Are Gone, with 40,000 dedicated fans and they were certainly ready to party. They even homily asked for recommendations on where they should go and party after the show. Haim’s setlist included many fan favourites like “Now I’m In It”, “Honey & I”, “The Wire” and the closed the incredible night with “The Steps”
It was another hugely successful year for All Points East and we already can’t wait for the next!
